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US Presswire photo Gio Gonzalez was acquired from the Athletics on Dec. 23. |
Yeah, the same Gio Gonzalez who was acquired in a trade with the Athletics more than one month ago. (So by that logic, if the Nationals were to sign Prince Fielder this week, expect his introductory press conference to be held sometime in June.)
Actually, there were some extenuating circumstances that prevented Gonzalez from holding this press conference until now. His trade came two days before Christmas, and the Nationals front office was closed during the holidays. Then his contract status remained up in the air, until the club inked him to a five-year, $42 million extension on Jan. 15.
So we'll finally get a chance to meet the young left-hander and ask him and general manager Mike Rizzo about the state of the Nationals rotati... ah, who are we kidding? The percentage of Gio-related questions vs. Fielder-related questions is surely going to tilt in the direction of the big free agent first baseman.
Could make for interesting theater, though.
27 comments:
need to come up with a nickname by 3:30pm tomorrow for PF to go with NatGioWild...
Tim Brown saying Prince to Nats close but not quite done.
Maybe Gio won't be alone.
I'm kind of freaking out a little right now.
Twitter world abuzz with Nats & Fielder on an 8 year deal (and not that crazy guy from Sun night, he says O's).
False Alarm.
Tim Brown of Yahoo was going off a fake twitter account.
So that happened.
Nationals fans are going to love Gio, another starter throwing heat. To quote VA Slims, we come a long way baby.
MLBTR, citing Tim Brown, now says PF is closing in a 9-yr deal with Det.
Maybe that's based on a spoofed twitter acct too. If it's for real, I'm glad it's not the Nats.
I guess it all depends on the AAV, but 9 years could be an eternity in Detroit if PF ages like some fear he will. If the Nats were in play, they may well end up benefiting from losing this one.
More and more folks are reporting the Tigers are signing Fielder. I have wanted the Nats to sign him, but I admit my first reaction upon reading that was relief. I am not sure why but it really just may be that I wanted this whole drama to end.
+1/2St.
Looks like it's real, HHover. And I agree. I thought I'd be disappointed if Fielder signed elsewhere, but at that price I'm very relieved.
Detroit 9/214 for Fielder, per Heyman.
Looks to me like the timing of the Gio presser is to create a diversion and take the focus away from not getting Fielder.
If we had signed him for 9/214, I'd be screaming that it was a terrible mistake. So I'm glad we didn't...
Press conference=Damage control
Hope LaRoche can come close to his numbers in 2009-10, but not counting on it...
Nine years? $214 million? Wow. It will be interesting to read some of the post-mortems to learn whether the Nats got into a bidding war toward the end, but at those sorts of numbers I'm glad they didn't win it. Also wonder about any opt-out/buy-out options? And don't Cabrera, Fielder, and Martinez all fit the same long-term profile as first basemen and DH? You may get a year or two out of Cabrera at third, but even that's pushing it. Fascinating.
Best Tweet of the day, following one of the thousand 'Prince to DET for 9/$214m tweets:
@OldHossRadbourn
In related news, "Little Caesar's" is now charging $700 per pie.
10 minutes ago
If Detroit's press conference is tomorrow, Gio ain't gonna be seeing much ink, so there won't be much damage to control. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe they ever confirmed they were even talking to Boras/Fielder, did they?
It was a lot money but this means another year of not quite good enough.
They will never have players like Cabrera and Fielder on the Nationals. No way they will pay for them in DC.
"Press conference=Damage control."
No damage control needed when someone else gave Fielder $214 million over nine years. That price is too much for too long.
Like others here, I was kind of relieved when I read the news. I would have liked Fielder at, say, $140-150 million over 6 years. But nine years isn't a contract -- it's a marriage.
I'm concerned about the offense but at Fielder's price I will double up on the candles and prayers for Zimmerman's health and Harper's Rendon's rapid ascent through the minors.
I'm saddened that the Nationals did not get him for 6 years @ $22 million, but relieved that they didn't get him at 9 years @ $24 million.
This time next year, Morse will be at first and Harper will be in the left. That's a great team. They now have plenty of money to find a high-calliber center fielder.
All is well. There is no reason that LaRoche won't produce .270-22-80 type numbers this year.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe they ever confirmed they were even talking to Boras/Fielder, did they?
The Nationals never confirmed it (because they don't do that kind of thing) but it's pretty common knowledge that Fielder was in DC to meet Lerner in December, and Lerner and Boras met at the owners meetings in Arizona in January. Could have been other meetings as well. There is no doubt that the Nats were in on Fielder, although they may have refrained from the bidding war at the end.
But all in all, it was like an eBay auction. People make bids, but that only sets the stage for someone to swoop in at the last minute and win it.
Agree with Roberto and Farid. Also so happy not to have to read any more speculation/rumors on that front. (OTOH, am bracing for the post-mortems/rendings of garments.)
Good luck to Nats Insider Dawn and her Tigers now that they've taken a PF flyer. :-)
Tigers sign Prince Fielder to nine-year, $214 million deal. Glad it wasn't us or that he landed in the NL east somewhere.
I don't PF ever wanted to be a Nat. Good for him as he belongs in the AL with the DH anyway.
NatFan05
I want Milone and Peacock back.
I hear you, Rabbit...
I'm happy with Gio. I don't want Milone and Peacock back. And I CAN'T WAIT TILL THE SEASON GETS STARTED! go nats
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